When Goodbye Means so Much
by MonkeyStrawhatLuffy
Summary: Luffy goes back to the palace one last time. But what is it for? A LuffyxVivi one shot.


_**This is a one shot that takes place as the crew is leaving Alabasta. This is just a preview of a story I am getting ready to write. I decided to write this because there isn't enough LuffyxVivi stories. Oh, and I don not own One Piece or the characters from it. They belong to Eiichiro Oda.**_

**When Goodbye Means so Much**

As Sanji reached the bottom of the rope, he found that the rest of the crew was all ready to leave. They each had a duck of their own and bags of supplies were strapped to each. Everyone had mounted except for Sanji, of course, and Luffy. Sanji strapped his bag onto his duck and climbed on.

"Oi, Luffy. Are you just going to stand around or are you going to get on?" Sanji asked.

"Huh? Oh...it's just...I forgot something." Luffy replied. He turned his attention toward the palace and the window they had just climbed out of.

"Well, is it important?" Sanji said.

"Um...yeah. Very." Luffy said after a moment of thought.

Sanji sighed. "Well go get it and hurry up!" he said.

"Okay!" Luffy said. He seemed to like that idea.

"Meanwhile, we'll head on out. You won't be long, will you Luffy? You can catch up." Nami said.

"Yep! I'll be fast. Promise." Luffy said and took off toward the wall where the rope still hung.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew left the palace and headed towad the spot where they had arranged to meet Bon Kurei.

"Hey, did you notice anything...you know...weird about Luffy just then?" Usopp asked as they rode through the deserted streets.

"Now that you mention it...yeah. He was sort of acting strange." Nami replied.

"Relax. It's nothing to worry about. He probably just left one of his bags or something. It is Luffy after all." Zoro stated.

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Zoro was right. Their was nothing weird about Luffy leaving something.

Meanwhile, at the palace, Luffy had begun to climb the rope that he had climbed down just a few minutes ago. He hadn't wanted to tell the rest of his crew the truth. He wasn't sure what they would think but he somehow knew not to tell them. The truth was, the only thing he had really forgotten was a proper goodbye.

He reached the window and found that it was still open. Luffy pulled himself into the room which, only moments ago, had been filled with the laughter of him and his crew.

"Luffy?! I thought you had left." Vivi gasped in surprise. She had been staring at the wanted posters Igaram had brought her. She quickly layed them aside and walked over to Luffy.

"I...umm..." Luffy stuttered. He realized he had no idea what to say.

Vivi gazed at him steadily. There was something different about Luffy. He didn't seem so happy-go-lucky and carefree. There was almost a kind of seriousness about him. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"It's nothing. I just..." he stopped, not wishing to continue. He knew what he wanted to ask but he was afraid of the answer. He sat down on the edge of one of the beds. Vivi sat down beside him. "Vivi, I have a question."

"What is it Luffy?" she asked, encouriging him to go on.

"Vivi...you're not coming with us tomorrow, are you?" he asked her.

She seemed surprised by the question but she couldn't say that it was completely unexpected. "Luffy...it's not that I...it's not...you know I-" she said but Luffy cut her off.

"It's okay. I understand how you feel." Luffy said gently.

"You do?" Vivi asked, surprised. This was not the Luffy she was used to.

"Being a princess is sort of like being a captain, isn't it? We both have people we want to protect and people we never want to leave them. I would never want to leave my crew and you don't want to leave your people. And no matter how much I really, really want you to come, I can't ask you to leave." Luffy said.

"Luffy..." Vivi said quietly. She felt tears coming to her eyes. She had thought he wouldn't understand her decision, but it looks like he did.

He layed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I didn't come up here just to tell you that. There's another reason...something I had to say before we left. Something I couldn't tell you earlier." Luffy said.

Vivi looked him straight in the eye, searching for a hint of what Luffy meant. "Luffy-san?" she said questioningly.

"Vivi, I really don't want to leave you, but I will. For now anyway. But if this is where we go our seperate ways, then I promise one day, I'll be back. Because Vivi, after the all the time we've spent together, Little Garden, Alabasta, even if we were fighting for your country, I felt like I was fighting for you. You're my nakama but so is Sanji and Zoro and the rest of my crew. Saying your my nakama just isn't enough. What I'm trying to say is...Vivi I...I like you. I really, really like you. Alot. And I never want to lose you. So, even though we our going to be apart, I'll come back and we can be together." Luffy said. He had been staring intently at her the whole time.

"How can this...I don't understand. Is this Luffy? Does he really mean this?" Vivi thought. Then outloud, "Luffy...I...I like you too."

A wide smile spread across his face. He gently took her hand in his and stared deep into her eyes. Then in a whispher he said, "I would give up being a pirate for you. If you want."

Vivi immediately dropped his hands and scooted away from him. When she saw the hurt expression on his face, she knew she had better say something fast. She loved him but she didn't want him to stop being a pirate. That was part of the reason she loved him. It was because he broke the rules to do what was right. "No. I won't let you do that. You have your dream to fulfill and a promise you made to a friend." When she said that last part, she gently tapped his strawhat.

"H-H-How did you know about that?!" Luffy asked. He had never told anyone much about his hat.

"That's my little secret." Vivi said as she put a finger to his lips. He blushed. "Now, you better go and catch up to your crew."

Luffy nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak just yet.

"But before you go, I want to know one thing." Vivi said.

"What is it?" Luffy asked her.

She gently leaned forward and took his head in her hands and pulled his face closer to hers. Their lips met in a gentle kiss. At first, Luffy was surprised but he soon relaxed and enjoyed the kiss. After what seemed like only a short moment, but also an eternity at the same time, they pulled away.

"I wanted to know what that feels like." Vivi said softly.

Luffy had a goofy smile on his face. He had told her how he felt and so far, he was glad he had. He hated to think of what would of happened if he had left before telling her the truth.

"Now Luffy-san, it's time for you to go. You have your duties and I have mine. But we will see each other again." Vivi said as she led Luffy to the window. "Oh, and take this. Otherwise, your crew will wonder why you came back empty handed." She handed him a piece of meat that he had been eating earlier and then allowed him to leave. "Go and make something of yourself but don't forget me. And then, when you're done, come back for me. Until then, I'll be waiting." Vivi thought as she watched Luffy make the long descent into the night.

A few minutes later, Luffy had left the court yard and was on his way to find his crew. He chewed on the meat absentmindedly as he thought about what had just happened. Vivi liked him as much as he liked her! He was so happy but he had to act natural in front of his crew so he quietly shoved the thoughts out of his head and thought about leaving Alabasta and it's great food.

"Oi, Luffy. Where have you been?" Zoro asked when Luffy had finally caught up.

"I forgot my meat!" Luffy said as he waved the piece of meat, or what was left of it, in the air.

"You went back to get a stupid piece of meat?!?!?!!!" Nami yelled.

"Umm...well...but it's so tasty!!!!" Luffy cried.

Everyone sweat dropped. This was so typical of their captain. As they continued riding toward Merry, none of them were aware of what had just taken place or the promise that had been sealed with a kiss. And if Luffy had his way, they never would.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

_**Let me know what you think so I know if I need to continue this or not! Thanks! For now, -MonkeyStrawhatLuffy**_


End file.
